Safety razor blade having means for tiltably locking the same in the opened up head of a razor



Jan. 8, 1963 c. G. PREIS ETAL 3,071,857

SAFETY RAZOR BLADE HAVING MEANS FOR TILTABLY LOCKING THE SAME IN THE OPENED UP HEAD OF A RAZOR Original Filed April 26, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 fiweriora Cari 51 /345, $60,004?! fijfufuzl,

Jan. 8, 1963' c. G. PREIS ETAL 3,071,857

. SAFETY RAZOR BLADE HAVING MEANS FOR TILTABLY LOCKING THE SAME IN THE OPENED UP HEAD OF A RAZOR Original Filed April 26, 1954 3 Sheets-sheaf. 2

Jan. 8, 1963 c. s. PREIS ETAL 3,071,857 SAFETY RAZOR BLADE HAVING MEANS FOR TILTABLY LOCKING THE SAME IN THE OPENED UP HEAD OF A RAZOR Original Filed April 26, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ,the razor;

United States Patent Office 3,071,857 Patented Jan. 8, 1963 SAFETY RAZOR BLADEHAVING MEANS FOR TILTABLY LOCKING THE SAME IN THE OPENED UP HEAD OF A RAZOR Carl G. Preis, Forest Hills, N.Y., and Leopold Karl Kuhnl, Stratford, Conn., assignors to Eversharp, Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Original application Apr. 26, 1954, Ser. No. 425,618, new Patent No. 2,911,714, dated Nov. 10, 1959. Divided and this application Nov. 9, 1959, Ser. No. 856,325

1 Claim. (Cl. 30351) This invention has to do with safety razors of the same general type as that disclosed in Rodrigues Patent No. 1,969,945, wherein a new blade is adapted to be inserted in the head of the razor from a magazine by means of a mechanism which pushes in the new blade and at the same time ejects the used blade. This application is a division of co-pending application Serial No. 425,618, filed April 26, 1954, now Patent No. 2,911,714.

When it is desired to was the lather and hair particles from the blade of a razor of this type either during or between shaves difficulty is usually experienced in clearing the blade because of the close fit of the blade in the head of the razor between the cap and the seat, and if the blade is removed by hand from the head it is notonly dangerous to handle but difficult if not impossible to replace.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved razor of the type referred to in which the blade can be quickly and easily rendered accessible for washing either during or between shaves while remaining locked with respect to the head of the razor, which added feature will not interfere in any way with the insertion of .a new blade or the ejection of the used one by means of the usual blade-changing mechanism.

While the foregoing statements are indicative in a general way of the nature of the invention, other more specific objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled ,in the art upon a full understanding of the construction and operation of the novel means provided for rendering the blade accessible for washing.

A preferred embodiment of the invention isrpresented herein by way of exemplification but it will of course be appreciated that the invention is susceptible of incorporation in other structurally modified forms coming equally within the scope of the appended claim.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a razor constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front viewof the razor;

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the same; 7

FIG. 4 is a top view of the blade suitable for use in FIG. 5 is a side view of a blade magazine suitable for use in inserting new blades into the razor;

I FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view through the razor in its closed blade clamping position;

FIG. 7 is' a similar view through the razor in its open bladewashing position; i

FIG. 8 is a similar view through the razor in its partially closed position;

FIG. 9' is a perspective view of the various parts which make up the head of the razor; and a FIG. 10 is a fragmentary sectional view through the cap of the razor.

As will be observed in the drawings, the new razor includes a handle 10 of suitableform and a head 11 in which a blade 12 is adapted tobe positioned for shaving.

The head 11; of the razor includes a substantially rigid main frame '13. The lower portion of the frame 13 extends downwardly into a complementary slot 14 in the frame 13 is curved forwardly at 16 and terminates in a narrow forwardly and downwardly projecting flange 17, which flange constitutes the cap or cover against which the blade 12 is adapted to be clamped. The cap 17 covers the rear portion only of the blade 12, leaving the cutting edge 18 of the blade exposed.

Immediately beneath and behind the cap 17 the frame 13 is provided with a flat section 19, which section forms the rear stationary wall of an eXpansible channel 20 in which the positioning key 21 of the usual blade magazine 22 is adapted to be inserted. The bottom of the channel 20 is formed by two forwardly and upwardly turned ears 23 at the ends of the section 19. Below the section 19 the frame 13 is abruptly reduced in width and tapers downwardly into the handle 10. The side edges of the tapered portion of the frame 13' are provided with narrow forwardly turned edge flanges 24, which flanges are beveled off at their upper ends.

In front .of the frame 13 the head 11 of the razor is provided with a forwardly and downwardly shiftable plate 25 of generally L-shaped cross section. The upper portion of the plate 25 consists of a fiat forwardly projecting flange 26, which flange underlies the cap 17 on the frame 13 and constitutes the seat for the blade 12. The seat 26 terminates at its front edge in a downwardly curved longitudinally serrated formation 27, which formation constitutes the guard rail for the blade on the seat. Behind the guard rail 27 the seat 26 is provided with a clearance opening 28.

Immediately beneath and behind the seat '26 the plate 25 is provided with a flat section 29, which section is disposed in forwardly spaced relation to the flat section 19 of the frame and forms the front forwardly shiftable wall of the expansible channel20 for the key 21 of the blade magazine. Below the flat section 29 the plate 25 terminates in two laterally spaced downwardly tapering end portions 30, which portions are located between the upper ends of the edge flanges 24 on the correspondingly 'closed position, which is the position shown in FIG. 6.

The blade seat 26 on the plate 25 is provided adjacent its ends with small upwardly projecting stops 32, which stops are adapted to engage with the front edge 'of the blade 12 close to the ends of the latter. The blade 12, when clamped in shaving position between the cap 17 and the seat 26, is accurately positioned relative to the guard rail 27 on the seat 26 by the stops 32, which stops press the blade rearwardly against a small centrally located forwardly projecting boss 33 on the frame 13 at the rear edge of the underside of the cap 17'. The seat 26, which normally assumes the blade clamping position shown in FIG. 6, is'shiftable downwardly and forwardly from that position into the position shown in FIG. 7.

The seat 26 is resiliently held in its blade clamping position by a main spring 34 which is located in front of the frame 13. The plate 25, which carries the seat 26, is loosely mounted on the upper end of the spring .34, and the upper end of the spring 34 is movable, with upper end of the handle 10, where it is fixedly secured to a the handle by a rivet 15, while the upper portion of the the plate 25, toward and away from the flatsection 19 of the frame 13. When thespring 34 is moved toward the frame it acts to close the head of the razor and clamp the seat 26 upwardly and rearwardly against thecap 17 0n .the interposed blade 12, as shown in FIG. 6, whereas when the spring 34 is moved away from the frame it acts to open the head of the razor and permit the seat 26 to drop downwardlyand forwardly, as shown in FIG. 7. j v

The lower portion 35 of the spring 34 tapers downwardly like the lower portion of the frame 13 and fits between the inturned edge flanges 24 on the frame in a position just below that assumed by the laterally spaced lower end portions 30 of the plate 25. The spring 34 is hingedly connected with the frame 13 by small trunnions 36 on the lower end of the spring, which trunnions pass through bearing apertures 37 provided in the edge flanges 24 on the frame. This hinge connection permits the upper portion 38 of the spring 34 to move bodily toward and away from the frame 13.

The upper portion 38 of the spring 34 is abruptly reduced in width just below the lower edges of the end portions 30 of the plate 25 and extends upwardly through a narrow laterally elongated slot 39 in the rear portion of the seat 26. At its upper end the upper portion 38 of the spring terminates in two small laterally spaced upwardly projecting prongs 40, which prongs track within shallow grooves 41 in the underside of the cap 17 when the upper portion 38 of the spring 34 is in its forward position, which is the position shown in FIG. 7. When the upper portion 38 of the spring 34 is moved rearwardly, however, from the position shown in FIG. 7 to that shown in FIG. 6, the prongs 40 on the upper portion of the spring will retract from the underside of the cap 17 a distance somewhat greater than the thickness of the blade 12. The blade 12 is provided with laterally spaced holes 42, which are slightly larger than the pronges 40, and the prongs 40 extend through the holes 42 in loosely but securely interlocked engagement with the blade when the spring is in its forward position.

The head 11 of the razor is opened and closed by means of a small lever 43 which is conveniently located at the front of the razor just below the head. When the lever 43 is flipped up, from the vertical position shown in FIG. 6 to the horizontal position shown in FIG. 7, the head 11 will open, and when the lever 43 is pressed down again, into the position shown in FIG. 6, the head 11 will close.

The lever 43, which will be referred to as the lift lever, is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on the free end of a second underlying lever 44, by means of a pin 45, and this second lever 44, which will be referred to as the compression lever, is pivotally mounted at its other end on the front end of a forwardly projecting stud 46, by means of a pin 47. The stud 46 passes through the lower end of a vertically elongated slot 48 in the spring 34 at the center of the latter and through a small aperture 49 in the frame 13. The stud 46 is provided at its rear end with a head t) which engages with the back of the frame 13 and locks the stud against forward movement.

The pivoted end of the compression lever 44 is provided with a cam-shaped nose 51, which nose contacts and operates against the front face of the spring 34. The nose 51 has a flattened low portion 52 and a flattened high portion 53. When the head 11 of the razor is in its open position, as shown in FIG. 7, the spring 34 is permitted by the low portion 52 of the nose to assume its forwardly swung position, whereas when the head 11 is in its closed position, as shown in FIG. 6, the spring 34 is held flexed in its rearwardly swung position by the high portion 53 of the nose, the high portion 53 of the nose first forcing the spring rearwardly and then flexing it in its rearward position.

The rearward movement of the spring 34 by the compression lever 44 serves to move the blade seat 26 rearwardly, while the final movement and flexure of the spring 34 by the compression lever 44 serves to resiliently clamp the seat 26 both upwardly and rearwardly against the overlying cap 17, thereby at the same time clamping the interposed blade between the laterally spaced front stops 32 on the seat and the boss 33 at the back of the cap 17.

The lift lever 43 when pressed down not only operates the underlying compression lever 44 to force the spring 34 toward the frame 13, but during the forepart of its downward movement serves to raise the then lowered seat 26 from the wide open blade locking position shown in FIG. 7 to the raised but still unclamped intermediate position shown in FIG. 8. This is accomplished by engagement of the inner end 54 of the lift lever 43 with the lower end of a tongue 55, which tongue extends downwardly from the center of the flat section 29 of the plate 25 on which the seat 26 is mounted and projects downwardly and forwardly at an angle through the previously mentioned slot 48 in the spring 34. The tongue 55 is provided at its lower end with a reversely bent foot 56, which foot is located directly above the inner end 54 of the lift lever 43.

When the head 11 of the razor is in its open blade locking position, as shown in FIG. 7, downward pressure on the then forwardly projecting outer end 57 of the lift lever 43 will rock the lift lever on the then forwardly projecting compression lever 44, from the position shown in FIG. 7 to that shown in FIG. 8. This preliminary movement of the lift lever 43 will bodily lift the tongue 56, and consequently the seat 26, from the position shown in FIG. 7 to one approximating that shown in FIG. 8.

Further downward movement of the outer end 57 of the lift lever 43 will cause the same to bottom at 53 on the outer end of the compression lever 44, after which the compression lever 44 will swing downwardly as a unit with the lift lever, the inner end 54 of the lift lever riding freely out from under the then fully elevated foot 56 on the tongue 55. Continued downward movement of both levers, with the seat 26 raised, will then firs-t move the spring 34 rearwardly and thereafter flex it, with the seat 26 properly positioned and clamped against the blade 12 in readiness for shaving. In the ,closed or shaving position of the head 11, the rearward movement and flexing of the spring 34 during the closing of the head will act to retract the locking prongs 40 from the holds 42 in the blade 12 and move them into a position even with or just below the upper face of the seat 26, as shown in FIG. 6, the withdrawal of the prongs being due in part to the angular disposition of the cap 17 relative to the pivotal axis 36 of the spring 34 and also in part to the shortening of the spring 34 resulting from its flexure.

When the lift lever 43 is flipped up and moves from the position shown in FIG. 6 to that shown in FIG. 7, the spring 34 will unflex and swing forwardly, causing the prongs 40 to be projected into the holes 42 in the blade 12. At the same time, the forward movement of the spring 34 will release the plate 25 on which the seat 26 is mounted and will permit the seat to drop down into the position shown in FIG. 7, leaving the blade loosely but securely locked on the prongs 40, in which position the blade can be easily and thoroughly washed on both sides by holding the opened head 11 under a stream of water. To insure the spring 34 moving forwardly as far as it will go into a position wherein the' prongs 40 reach the forward ends of the grooves 41 in the underside of the cap 17, a light bowed leaf spring 59 is preferably positioned between the main spring 34 and the frame 13, astraddle the stud 46. In the closed position of the razor this small spring 59 is collapsed flatly between the main spring 34 and the frame 13, as shown in FIG. 6.

When the seat 26 drops down into the position shown in FIG. 7 the rear portion of the blade 12 will be held in an elevated position relative to the rear portion of the seat by reason of its engagement with the horizontal upper edge 60 of the spring 34.

After the head 11 of the razor has been closed the prongs '40 will no longer interlock with the holes 42- in the blade 12 and the blade can be changed in the usual manner, by inserting the key 21 of the magazine 22 in the channel 20.

When the key 21 is. inserted in the channel 20 it will act to pry the front wall 29 of the channel forwardly against the resistance oifered by the main spring 34, thereby moving the seat 26 forwardly far enough to withdraw the stops 32 from engagement with the front edge of the blade. With the seat 26 in its forward position, a new blade can be fed endwise from the magazine 22 between the cap 17 and the seat 26, which new blade will at the same time push the used blade out.

The end of the plate 25 against which the magazine 22 is pressed is provided with a downwardly and outwardly inclined wing portion 61 for camming coaction with the usual embossment 62 on the key 21 of the magazine, and the other end of the plate 25 is also provided with a similar wing portion. These two wing portions 61 assist in guiding the plate 25 in its movement between the positions shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

The locking holes 42 in the blade 12 have nothing to do with the registration which is effected between the front edge of the blade and the guard rail 27, this being done entirely by the front stops 32 and the rear boss 33. The holes 42 are so located in the blade as to become hooked on the moving prongs 40 as the latter travel upwardly and forwardly relative to the cap 17, and the holes 42 are therefore somewhat larger in size than the prongs 40.

We claim:

A blade of the single cutting edge type, which blade is specially designed for use only in a safety razor of the type characterized by a cap which is provided on its under side with a centrally located rear stop for gauging abutment with the rear edge of the blade, a guard which in shaving position is normally clamped against the under side of the cap on the interposed blade but is movable downwardly away from the cap into a blade washing position while being permanently coupled with the cap, which guard is provided on its upper side at its ends with front stops for gauging abutment with the front cutting which rear and front stops the blade is clamped edgewise flatly against the upper surface of the guard in predetermined shaving position relative to the front of the guard when the guard is moved upwardly into clamped engagement with the cap, and two laterally spaced normally retracted locking prongs which are projectable upwardly from the guard through the rear portion of the blade into substantial abutment with the cap when the guard is moved downwardly away from the cap; said blade being characterized by a straight rear edge for gauging abutment midway between its ends with the rear stop on the cap of the razor, a front cutting edge for gauging abutment adjacent its ends with the front laterally spaced stops on the guard of the razor, and two laterally spaced blade-pivoting apertures in the rear portion only of the blade adjacent the ends of the latter, which apertures are of appreciably larger size than the upwardly projectable prongs in the razor in a direction normal to the cutting edge of the blade, whereby to receive and loosely encircle said prongs when the prongs are projected upwardly and the guard is moved downwardly away from the cap to permit the front cutting edge of the blade to swing freely up and down between the cap and the guard of the razor when the guard is moved downwardly away from the cap while maintaining the blade locked against removal from the razor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,272,816 Leslie July 16, 1918 1,417,988 Gullborg May 30, 1922 1,436,751 Browning Nov. 28, 1922 1,805,509 Behrman May 19, 1931 1,823,976 Gaisman Sept. 22, 1931 

